Rwandan police arrest political reporter in Kigali

Nairobi, July 18,
2012--Police in Kigali are holding a newspaper reporter whose employer had
earlier filed a complaint alleging that security agents had seized and
interrogated him, according to news reports.

On Tuesday, police
arrested Idriss Gasana Byiringiro, a political reporter for the private weekly Chronicles, on
suspicion of providing false information, the paper reported. The journalist has
not been allowed access to his family or a lawyer, according to news reports
and local journalists. No formal charges have been publicly disclosed.

Christopher Kayumba,
the managing consultant of Chronicles,
said the reporter is being held at the Kicukiro police station. Police had
supposedly invited Byiringiro to follow up on allegations against
the Rwandan security police for interrogating him illegally in June, according
to news
reports. CPJ's calls to the police were not answered.

Byiringiro said that
on June 15 he was interrogated by four individuals who claimed to work for
Rwanda's security services, according to Chronicles
and news reports. The men confiscated the journalist's phone and laptop and
detained him overnight in the town of Nyamata, a town 19 miles (30 kilometers)
south of Kigali, the reports said.Kayumba said the men forced
Byiringiro to open his emails and questioned him about his sources and the
funding of his newspaper. The newspaper wrote a letter of complaint to
concerned authorities, the paper said, and Kayumba met with the
Inspector General of Police to request an investigation.

In the weeks that
followed the interrogation, Byiringiro received intimidating text messages and
a threatening unsigned letter, Kayumba said.

"We are very
concerned that Idriss Gasana Byiringiro was arrested after reporting a crime
that potentially involved authorities," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom
Rhodes. "Police should immediately explain the basis for the arrest and allow
Byiringiro access to family members and legal counsel."

Byiringiro has
written a number of sensitive
stories, local journalists said, although it was unclear what recent story
could have triggered the reported June 15 interrogation.

Rwandan journalists
have been harassed for their reporting in the past, according to CPJ research. Authorities arrested
community radio presenter Habarugira
Epaphrodite in late April for misusing a word during a broadcast on
memorial events for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, according to local journalists.
Epaphrodite wrote an official apology to authorities, who said he had used a
phrase deemed offensive to the survivors and victims of the genocide, according
to local
reports. The verdict for the case is expected on July 30.